1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to saws and cutting devices. It is particularly directed to a cutter for removing an ornamental ring from a human finger.
2. State of the Art
Situations exist in which removing an ornamental jewelry ring from the finger on which it is worn requires cutting through at least one side, or wall, of the ring. For example, a ring that is too tight may cause a finger to swell to the point that the ring simply cannot be slid off in conventional fashion. Damage to a ring or finger (e.g. industrial accident), may also preclude conventional removal of a ring. In certain cases, a known ring cutter may be employed to cut through one side of the ring. Certain malleable rings (such as rings made from Copper, Gold, Silver, and other precious metals), may then be increased in diameter by prying the ring material apart in a circumferential direction. Sometimes, opposite sides of the ring must be cut through to enable removal of the ring from a finger.
Known ring cutter devices include a blade that is rotated while pressed into contact with a wall of the ring. A skin guard resists contact between the blade and tissue of the finger. Blades may be fashioned entirely from metal (similar to a metal hack saw blade), or may resemble grit-encrusted disks. At least one commercially available ring cutter employs a bushing formed between Stainless Steel and Brass in which to journal the cutting blade's axle.
It is known to include diamond particles in the grit coating of a diamond-coated blade. A best guess for grit size used in diamond-coated blades of a commercially available ring cutter is between about 235 and 600. As understood, the diamond particles are bonded to a substrate in a proprietary sintering process that allows for controlled bond erosion when grinding through materials. The ratio of diamond particles-to-matrix is believed to be about 60/40. Unfortunately, such commercially available diamond-coated blades wear out very quickly, must be operated at relatively low rpm (e.g. less than about 500 rpm), and generate significant amount of heat. The cutting surface of such a blade generates significant heat because the matrix and diamond particles form an essentially smooth surface, placing virtually the entire cutting surface in contact with the ring in a grinding zone.
In recent times, rings made from alternative materials have become popular. Rings made from materials such as Cobalt, Tungsten Carbide, Ceramic Carbide, Zirconium, and Titanium resist increasing in diameter subsequent to a single cut, and typically also require cutting through the opposite side of the ring to effect removal of the ring from a finger. The commercially available ring cutters either take too long to cut through such rings, or simply cannot perform that task. There have been situations wherein the time spent attempting to remove a ring caused the ring-decorated finger to die.
It would be an advance to provide a device, and method of use of that device, operable to remove difficult rings (e.g. made from certain non-traditional materials) from fingers in a medically effective time period. It would be a further improvement to provide a ring cutter that may be optionally operated in either one of a selected right-hand, or left-hand, mode.